Hold me in your arms
by wiets
Summary: A.U. As a friend you never turn your back to friends who need your help. As a doctor you have the duty the aid those in need of medical attention… Sakura did both but paid a price far too high. Her career is gone, her house confiscated, her savings disappeared and her friends have abandoned her. Sakura (Older than 18) -Kakashi


**In dire need of a deta and looking for it.**... doesn't really goes as I would like. Most request remains unanswered or is refused by lack of time, or simply not interested in fanfiction anymore :S

For comments, questions or the likes just pm me, the same goes if you want to beta or knows one who would like to.

**Summary:**

As a friend you never turn your back to friends who need your help. As a doctor you have the duty the aid those in need of medical attention… Sakura did both but paid a price far too high. Her career is gone, her house confiscated, her savings disappeared and her friends have abandoned her. With nothing left in the world she can turn to only one for help, but how does she find a shadow in a city full with shadows, in a world so far from hers that every move can mean her death…?

It's rated M not for fun so please take it serious!

* * *

_I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of over-treatment and therapeutic nihilism._

_Hippocrates. _

* * *

The plan had been simple. Go to the shopping district, meet his contact, give him the information and both go their own merry way after the exchange. Unfortunately he only archived the first step of the plan. Go to the shopping district… Resulting in running for his life.

Pain pierced through his body. He stumbled once, regained his balance and took off a bit faster. His pursuer had a good aim and managed to hit him three times by now, all just barely missing his vitals. He had no time and place spare to think a lot about it, not had he paid much attention to his surroundings as he ran through one street after another, through alleys and neighborhoods, then farther in the direction of the harbor.

Cursing profoundly Kakashi saw a high fence rise before him in the small alley he turned into. His pursuer was hot on his heels and there was no time to turn. Picking up his space he saw a few crates under the fence, piled up for footing. Ignoring the pain in his left tight he jumped onto the first crate just as his pursuer entered the alley. The crate protested under his weight, expressing it in loud cracks. A pop echoed off the wall and he felt something hot shooting past his cheek. Taking no time to wonder where the bullet ended he climbed onto another crate. The fence was at least six meter high, too high to just jump up and grip the top and it slightly concerned him that there was nothing on the other side that would break his fall. He just had to hope the best for it. He was out of options anyway.

Just as he heaved himself over the fence and he was hanging with one arm trying to pick a good enough spot to jump, his pursuer took the change to shoot again. He stood in the middle of the alley and Kakashi could see him aim, smirk and shoot. Pain shot blinding fast through his upward stretched arm. _Shit! _He lost his grip and fell down hard on the wet cobbled under him. With a loud oomph he bounced and rolled on the ground, smearing enough alley dirt and slime over his body and into his wounds. He kept on rolling when he heard the loud curse exploding from his pursuer's lips until he hit the wall with his back. He lay behind a big trash bin and found himself momentarily out of shooting range. Not that that would stay. He could hear the squeaks and cracks from the crates as his pursuer climbed up, determined to finish his job of killing him. Kakashi couldn't blame him for trying to kill him, though he wouldn't stand still and take the bullet easily. There were things he had to do first and being death wasn't one of those.

It was more luck than anything else that he saw that the alley ended at the harbor, his destination, the dockyards lay close and it was there that he hoped to find help and a hiding place. But he had to get out of this alley first. His heart beat like a pneumatic drill in his chest, apparently trying to break out and would have succeeded if his ribs hadn't been there, his longs were burning from the exertion and his vision was blurred and decorated with black spots that danced up and down. Exhaustion and blood loss was getting to him.

The fence behind him creaked. Careful he looked around the bin to see his pursuer heaving himself up the last meter and half onto the fence. It was now or never. With the last bit of energy he had he jumped up and ran towards the harbor, splashing water and alley slime up his legs. He slipped in time to grab a pole to help him make a sharp turn to the right.

While running the docks it occurred him that it was strangely quiet. At the middle of the night the harbor wasn't a bustling place but there were always people around, smuggles bringing in the last batch of goods under cover of the darkness, homeless looking a nice place to crash the night and hoping to pick something up to sell the other day and other people nobody wish to meet day or night. He also knew that one of the headquarters of one of the cabals was located somewhere here, but there was not a car to be seen.

Yesterday's newspaper flashed before his eyes, the headline in particular.

**'Massive raid earned the police new fame!' **

It was about a raid in one of the warehouses, confiscating a huge batch of high quality sake and drugs including the arrest of many head figures in the underworld. Kakashi could curse his stupidity. The police had placed watch throughout the whole harbor for investigation.

"Damn, damn and double damn," he cursed when he hit another tall fence, closing of the entire dock from warehouse to the water. There was no way he could climb over this one, no crates or any foot holdings. The fence was made close by black plastic making it impossible to see the other side, though he knew what lay on the other side, he'd been there himself often enough.

"Ready to give yourself in?" a leering voice asked behind him. Gun dangling in one hand his pursuer walked calmly closer, a smirk on his face.

"Sorry Sasuke, maybe another time." He dived for the water and at the same moment Sasuke brought his gun up and fired another shot after him. This one hit him fair in his shoulder and rather than a dive he fell flat on the water surface. The surface broke and the dark water engulfed him, he sunk like a stone. He could feel small objects shooting past him, tearing his clothes. With the last bit of effort he had he begun to swim, wondering how far he would get before drowning.

* * *

"Fucking asshole!" Sasuke cursed after the disappearing man. He had been close, so close in finally taking that betraying son-of-a-fucking-bitch in. So close.

"Freeze! Drop you gun and turn around with your hands in the air!" a voice shouted behind him. Furious he turned and saw three uniforms standing with guns raised and pointed at him.

"Cool you dicks!" he said through clenched teeth. He dropped his gun and rose his hands above his head, not fancying the idea of extra holes in his body. "I'm one of you, moron!" he said glaring at one of the uniforms edging closer, meaning to take his gun and probably search him. "Were is that idiot Naruto? I know he's here."

"Sasuke, you should be happy you're not shot yet. Barging onto the docks and shooting around like that." Naruto stepped from behind the fence and walked towards them. "It's okay, he's one of us. How unlikely it seems sometimes," he addressed the uniforms.

Sasuke snarled at him and bent to pick his gun from the ground.

"Weren't you in a fancy restaurant entertaining your fiance?" Naruto asked him. The uniforms shuffled around uncertain, not sure what to do with him. Sasuke snarled at them. He was furious. They stopped him just when he decided to jump after the betraying asshole and now he was gone. God knew where he went, or if he was even alive. A bitter part of him hoped he'd drowned in that greenish dark cold water, another part hoped he hadn't. He wanted to drag his sorry ass into the precinct, or put a bullet between his eyes, whatever the opportunity give.

Holstering his gun he turned and looked over the vast, slow waving water of the harbor. A few boats lay docked further to the left and the light of the lighthouse on the cliff outside the city swept over the water surface. It was calm on the water, no ships sailed, and no gulls flew. A container ship lay just before the docks, waiting for morning to dock and unload its cargo.

"You've got coffee?" he asked, turning his back towards the waters, ships and other water related things. And to the man disappeared in the depths.

"Sure," Naruto turned and took a few steps. He stopped and turned back to face him. "Well get him and when we do he'll answer for it."

Sasuke shrugged in answer and shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling the car keys his mood sunk a few degrees deeper. He left her behind in the restaurant without the keys. He hoped she carried her credit card with her, well it wasn't like he wanted to go out for dinner anyway.

* * *

He had no idea how far he'd swum, not that it mattered anymore. It was early spring and the water was cold, icy cold. He knew the danger of hypothermia and also the danger his wounds were. It took him a while to realize he drifted into the river and was quite away from the harbor. _Dry… need to get on dry land. Shit so cold. _He started to shiver, his teeth rattling and his legs went into spasm. A quay lay on his left, low enough that he could work himself out of the water without much energy.

He had lost track of time, though the full moon over the water, low on its orbit, told him it was late at night. His hands hit the stone and he clawed onto them. He was just so tired, so damn tired. His legs wouldn't obey him, his arms joined his legs in being disobedient.

_Just a second. If I close my eyes just a second… _He though while shivering violently. He couldn't remember why he lay in the water or where he went. His world spun round and round, closing his eyes was the only solution against the maddening spinning.

_Just a second…_

* * *

Sakura was furious. Not only had he left her behind, he jumped up from the table like he was stung by a wasp, knocking over his glass in the process, he then ran, _ran_ out of the restaurant! Never in her whole life had she felt as humiliated as now. She'd left her seat silently, feeling too ashamed to meet anybody's eye she looked at the ground as she made her way to the exit.

After paying and receiving her coat she left the restaurant as fast as she could. Outside she fumbled in her purse, looking for the keys when she remembered that Sasuke had them in his pocket.

"Goddamned," she cursed to no one. A man walking past with an overdressed woman on his arm looked disapproving at her. She wanted to stick her tongue out at him, wanted to beat something and wanted to scream, all at the same time if possible. Instead she pulled her walled from her purse and looked for money to pay for a taxi. Of course she hadn't any, spent it this morning in the hospital's cafeteria buying coffee while visiting Tsunade and Shizune.

"Great, now I have to walk home." She could always get some money from the ATM but she just didn't feel like it. Walking may just what she needed to cool down.

The streets were crowded with people, woman and male enjoying a leisurely Saturday evening, going out for dinner and drinks. Music from one of the café's washed over the street as a door opened to allow visitors inside. She debated with herself in visiting one such places but decided against it, knowing it wouldn't ease her anger at all. So she kept on walking in the direction of her apartment. She would have spent the night in Sasuke's apartment, but now she just didn't want to see him.

It was one of their things in their relationship that rose many question by others, why did she kept her apartment while they were engaged for a year now. The answer was simple though she never said it out loud, not to herself not to anybody else. She told the people around that she wasn't ready yet to sell her first apartment and they thought her sentimental, foolishly sentimental seeing the location of her spacious loft. The truth was that she didn't want to sell it because it was her home, and Sasuke's place wasn't and would never be for her. Her apartment was the place where she truly could relax, where she could work from and where she could be herself. Beside just the thought of living with Sasuke full-time suffocated her.

Another reason was that she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue their relationship at all. She was no romantic fool, not anymore, to believe Sasuke adored her or even loved her slightly. It didn't really matter to him if she was around or not. Well that was partly true, he did check up on her frequently if she was busy with work and he was too and they weren't able to meet often during the week. But she had a feeling that the reason for doing so was slightly different than he made appear, what the reason was… well she didn't know.

Then there was the matter of her own feelings…. Or lack of feelings. She couldn't tell if she ever loved him or not, but if she ever did or not, she certainly didn't love him now. She hadn't loved him a year ago when he proposed her, she hadn't loved him before when they began dating seriously. Why did she say yes… it was a question that she asked herself many nights. Why did he ask her? Was another question, though she suspected that he only did so because he was supposed to do and it was… convenient.

But she didn't want a relationship based on convenience. She wanted one based on love and trust, two things that this one greatly lacked.

"Maybe it's time to quit it?" she wondered out loud against no one in particular. She'd wondered that a couple times before but never acted on it. That she didn't love him didn't mean she did not care for him, because she did. She cared a lot for him, but not in that way.

She hadn't been paying any attention where she went, so absorbed she was in the train of thoughts, that she was surprised she found herself near the river. She could see the lights from the harbor on her left. The light of the firehouse behind the harbor swept over the water, lightning the containership that lay at anchor just outside the harbor waiting for morning when it got permission to dock. Her feet hurt from walking and she sat down on the wall separating the sidewalk with the quay laying lower. She could see the tiny lights of the village on the other side of the river. Cradled between the hills and the sea. Once a month she would take a ferry and visit her parents living there. She had fond memories of her childhood in the village, the sense of being free and save, of being able to do anything. Smiling she thought of the swing on the playground of her primary. Many hours a day she spent on it together with Ino and the other girls, or the hills behind the village where they would gather flowers for their mothers.

Still smiling she looked down and her smile froze. Under the light of the full moon she could see the man clearly. He lay on his stomach half on land and half in the water. It was still early spring and the water was close to five degrees, too cold to lay in, it was clear the man was in trouble. Swinging her feet back over the wall she stood up and hurried to the steps and down.

While walking she took her cellphone from her purse to call for help. Skirting she stopped beside the man, her breath catching in her throat. She smell off saltwater, wet clothes and the coppery scent of blood washed over her, but that wasn't what made her hesitate to dial emergency. The man was tall, lean and athletic build, with long strong muscles and dressed completely in black clothes. His face was turned away from her but she didn't need to see who it was, the distinct flock of silvery hair couldn't be missed.

Trembling slightly she crouched beside him and pressed her index and middle finger on his carotid artery and felt a weak pulse. His body was so cold and he was breathing so swallow that she felt a surge of panic at the thought of him dying. Gently she shook his shoulder.

"Kakashi? Kakashi wake up!" she said with a big lump in her throat. He was still alive, she wasn't too late yet, but he needed help. What could she do? She couldn't call for an ambulance, the chance was to big that Naruto and Sasuke would hear it, but he couldn't stay here were he surely would die. Standing up she shed her coat off and dropped it on the ground. There was only one thing on her mind now. He needed to get out of the water. Apparently he tried to climb out on his own, but lacked the strength. The question as to why he lay in the water the first place wasn't important at the moment and she pushed it roughly away.

Her shoes followed the same treatment as her coat, she couldn't use her full strength while standing on high heels. Her purse she dropped on top of them. On stockings the walked back to where Kakashi lay, ignoring the cold that crawled up from the stones, and grabbed under his shoulders. The thought that he could be wounded somewhere crossed her mind, but what could she do when he lay half in the water? With much effort, a few curses and groan she managed to get him on dry land. Exhausted she sunk on her knees beside him.

"God Kakashi, you could have helped me," she scolded the still unconscious man softly. "So what now?" her eye fell on his legs and the stones and her heart skipped another beat. Blood smeared from the edge and disappeared under him. "Oh god, you're bleeding!" With him lying on his stomach she couldn't see much. As careful as she could she rolled him on his back and moved her hands over his body. His clothes were soaked. Holding her hands up she could see it wasn't all water that soaked his clothes. While moving with her hands over his side she found a small knife in an ankle holster. She took it out, grabbed the hem of his shirt and cut it open with the knife. All thoughts ceased from her mind when she saw two bullet wounds on his torso, one in his shoulder and another in his left flank.

Knowing that hypothermia was a major risk and exposing to too much cold could push him into coma or death she worked as fast as she could. From his shirt she tore make-shift bandages and wound them as good as she could around the wounds, finding two more, one bullet had hit his shoulder blade and probably broken it and the other lodged itself in his hip. Nothing vital was hid luckily and he wasn't bleeding hard anymore, still blood loss was still a risk, certainly in combination with hypothermia.

Knowing that she must keep him warm she grabbed her coat and warped it around him as good as she could, he was a good bit taller than she was but if it was only his torso covered that was good enough for her for now.

Throughout her emergency examination he didn't stir or regained consciousness. His breathing remained shallow and she worried about his heart rate that was way too low for a man of his posture. Sitting back on her heels she bit her lip while thinking what to do now. She had no car at hand, and getting hers would take too long, calling a taxi was out of question, even if she had money for it. It was at least a good five kilometers to her home or the hospital. There was no way she could carry him that far.

With nothing on hands she rolled him in recovery position and sat back again. He hadn't changed in the year and half she'd last seen him, a bit ragged, exhausted but mostly it was the same face.

"_That fucker left!" Sasuke stormed inside startling her in spilling her coffee over her hand. Putting her mug down and waved her hand, looking around for a towel to wipe the coffee away and hoping she still had some ointment against burning pain._

"_Excuse me?" she asked rather irritated with him. No 'hello darling, I'm home,' though she'd probably would call a psychiatrist if he did. _

"_That son-of-a-betraying-bitch Kakashi of course!" he yelled as if she should have known it was Kakashi he meant by that comment 'the fucker left'._

"…" _unsure what he expected her to say she said nothing. In this mood it didn't matter what she did, he would lash out at her anyway. _

"_Kakashi! He betrayed us, left to join Itachi!" he almost spelled out. Irritated she fell her anger rise but swallowed it back. She wasn't stupid, she had realized he left the force, heck she'd seen it coming. Not that Sasuke would listen to her. She had her own thoughts of it, though she was disappointed at Kakashi for doing this. Leaving the police force and joining Itachi and his criminal gang was just about the stupidest thing he could have done in his career, not that there was any left off now. _

"_I realized that," she said as she walked towards the bathroom for the medical kit._

"_Don't you even care he betrayed us?" he called after her in a furious voice. "No surprising, you always took his side so I guess you do so now too!" he accused her._

_The hair in her neck stood on end and she had to grip the wash-basin. Closing her eyes she tried to count to ten before she opened them. Taking the ointment she walked out of the bathroom, outwardly as calm and composed as she could pretend to be, luckily she pulled play pretend to an art. _

"_Excuse me?" she said in a cold voice even he had to notice. "That is nonsense and you know that very well." Of course he didn't notice her shimmering anger. He never noticed anything about her. _

Shaking her head to chase the memories away she caught sight of her cellphone. She couldn't call Naruto or Sasuke but there was one she could call, one she could trust to help her even if it was Kakashi she needed help with.

Quickly she looked up the number in her contact list.

"Hey Sai. Sorry for calling you so late," she said when Sai picked up his cellphone after it rung around three times. "Listen I really need your help right now. No I'm fine. Listen I'm in a bit of a … predicament…" she said while looking at Kakashi face. He his eyes were still closed and his breathing was still swallow, it worried her a lot. She was afraid he might slip in a coma, and then she couldn't help him the way she planned to do. "Can you come here? I'll explain everything here," That was probably not even needed, he had eyes, he could see Kakashi and put one and one together. "Yes. Thank you. Er… can you bring a few old blankets with you?" Her coat was far from sufficient to keep him warm. "I'm at 74th street, near mooring six. Sai? You're the best." Smiling she hung up. Sai would help her, she was sure of it… she had to be.

* * *

**TBC...**


End file.
